The sixth-seeded University of Tennessee men's basketball team knocked off third-seeded Virginia, 79-72, Sunday evening in a top-25 clash at Xfinity Mobile Arena to claim its fourth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.
No. 23/25 Tennessee (24-11, 11-7 SEC) got a team-high 21 points from senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie in a contest it trailed for just 3:07.
The Volunteers took an 8-3 lead after just 2:31 of action, but No. 9/8 Virginia (30-6, 15-3 ACC) quickly answered with 17 of the next 25 to go ahead by four, 20-16, with 11:51 on the timer. The Cavaliers capped the spurt by going 4-of-5 from deep over just 2:33 of action.
Tennessee responded by holding Virginia scoreless for 5:36 and forcing seven straight misses, posting a 12-0 run in 4:09. That gave the Volunteers a 28-20 edge with 6:34 left in the session. They went on to take a five-point lead, 36-31, into the intermission.
After allowing a 7-of-14 start, Tennessee limited the Cavaliers to just two makes on their next 16 field-goal attempts. Virginia hit its last two shots and entered the locker room at 11-of-32 (34.4 percent), including 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from deep. Tennessee, meanwhile, had a 15-of-32 (46.9 percent) overall clip, a 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) figure beyond the arc and an 18-8 advantage in paint points.
Aided by a stretch of five consecutive makes from the floor, which concluded with a 3-pointer by Gillespie, Tennessee regained an eight-point margin, 54-46, with 12:53 remaining. The Volunteers stretched it to a game-best nine-point cushion, 57-48, just 2:22 after that.
The lead remained nine with under nine-and-a-half minutes to go, but the Cavaliers cut it down to three, 63-60, with 7:05 on the timer after connecting on five shots in a row, while Tennessee missed four straight at the other end. Sophomore guard Bishop Boswell doubled the Volunteers' lead 29 seconds later with his fourth 3-pointer of the night, doubling his career best.
Virginia upped its streak to seven consecutive makes and trimmed the margin to two, 66-64, with 5:36 to play. The Cavaliers missed their next shot, but grabbed the offensive rebound, got fouled and made two free throws to level the score, with 4:44 left, for the first time all half.
Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella put the Volunteers back in front 12 seconds later with a pair of free throws. After Virginia tied the score a half-minute later, Estrella responded with a baseline jumper to put Tennessee ahead, 70-68, with 3:37 to go.The Cavaliers took their first lead of the second half on a 3-pointer by freshman forward Thijs De Ridder with 2:03 left.
Freshman forward Nate Ament drilled two free throws just 26 seconds later to put the Volunteers back in front. Following a defensive stop, Boswell doubled the margin by splitting a pair of free throws with 46 ticks to go.
Tennessee then got another stop, after which Gillespie hit two shots at the line to make it 75-71 with 26 seconds left. The sequence then repeated, with the First Team All-SEC guard upping the lead to six with 13 ticks to play, capping a 7-0 run in 1:24.Freshman guard Chance Mallory made a free throw to snap the Cavaliers' skid, but that was their final point of the night. Gillespie made two shots at the stripe to seal it and the Volunteers advanced to the regional semifinals.
Gillespie finished 6-of-14 from the field, 3-of-5 beyond the arc and a perfect 6-of-6 at the line. The Greeneville, Tenn., native added six assists in 38 minutes of action.
Ament totaled 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half, and went 7-of-8 at the line. Boswell finished with a co-career-high 13 points and a career-best nine assists, the latter mark leading all players. He also had zero turnovers in 35 minutes of court time.
Estrella and junior forward Jaylen Carey had 10 points apiece, with the former shooting 4-of-4 and the latter going 4-of-5. Senior forward Felix Okpara added seven points, a game-best eight rebounds and a game-high four blocks, the latter mark matching his season best.
De Ridder paced all scorers with 22 points for the Cavaliers, as he went 8-of-14 from the field, 4-of-6 beyond the arc and 2-of-4 at the line. He chipped in five rebounds and two assists, as well.
Graduate guard Malik Thomas had 12 points, while Mallory and graduate guard Jacari White both scored 10. The latter scored all of his points in the first half and Tennessee held him to a 3-of-12 clip overall, including a 2-of-9 ledger from deep.
Overall, Tennessee limited Virginia to a 27-of-69 (39.1 percent) ledger from the field. The Cavaliers made just one of their final 10 shots in the last five-and-a-half minutes. Meanwhile, the victors, who had 20 assists, shot 26-of-55 (47.3 percent), including 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) from long range, and had a 24-12 edge in bench points.
The Volunteers will now head to Chicago, where they take the United Center court Friday at 10:10 p.m. ET against second-seeded, No. 2 seed Iowa State in the Sweet 16.